Beacon Hill businesses still feel pandemic pressure as State House, offices remain closed
It’s been 15 months since James and Vaios Grigas have seen a lunch rush at their Bowdoin Street cafe, Fill-A-Buster Luncheonette, which usually does a brisk business in the shadow of the State House.
“Everybody works from home still,” said Grigas, who faithfully works behind the lunch counter alongside his son, James, five days per week. The father and son have served just a fraction of their usual customers since the State House closed in March 2020 in response to the pandemic.
Next door, the cobbler Vadim Kotlyar’s hands at Beacon Hill Instant Shoe Repair sit idle, with barely a wingtip waiting to repair or resole.
At the neighboring Boston Barber Co., empty chairs illustrate the struggle facing small businesses that rely on the daily ebb and flow of office workers to sustain themselves.
“I have nothing to do,” said Kotlyar, noting he’s operating in “survival mode” until September when he believes business could rebound.
At the Fill-A-Buster, business has dropped 70% since the pandemic began, the owners estimate. At Beacon Hill Instant Shoe Repair, Kotlyar says the hit has been even bigger, and both say they’ve yet to see a rebound.
Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano in a recent joint statement said they had a “goal of returning employees and the public safely to the State House in the fall.”
Massachusetts repealed all business restrictions and added safety measures designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 on Memorial Day weekend. More than a month later as the Fourth of July approaches, exactly how well businesses are faring depends on who you ask.
Coastal strips and areas that attract tourists are rebounding quickly amid the summer boon, said Jon Hurst of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. Businesses like the ones running alongside the State House are still confronting customer shortages as workers remain remote and many buildings remain closed to the public.
“There is a sort of COVID hangover going on and a lot of state government office buildings seem like they are just really taking it easy until Labor Day,” Hurst said. “There is an economic impact here and I think there needs to be some more leadership.”
Prior to coronavirus closures, well over 1,000 lawmakers, staffers and constitutional officers and their staff worked out of the State House. Hundreds more — policymakers, advocates, lobbyists and the public — flowed in and out daily for hearings, rallies and meetings.
But as Hurst points out, “it isn’t just the State House: it’s 1 Ashburton, the John Hancock tower, 1 Beacon … the list goes on.”
“Some of these businesses need to step up and do the right thing economically and get their employees back, open their doors and help out the small businesses,” said Hurst. Even a hybrid model would help the small businesses “that live or die based upon people going out and getting lunch, or getting coffee in the morning or sending in their dry cleaning,” Hurst said.
Pandemic closures haven’t stopped customers like Eddy McCarthy, who makes a near-daily morning pilgrimage for a Western omelet at Fill-A-Buster.
“It would be a shame to see these businesses go,” said McCarthy, noting their history. Fill-A-Buster will celebrate its 45th anniversary next year. Beacon Hill Instant Shoe Repair will mark its centennial in 2027.
But as the Grigases point out, there simply aren’t enough customers like McCarthy to keep the lights on.
“For now we are holding on. But we need the customers to come back,” James Grigas said. “We need your business.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3w5A6Os
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